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Skateboarding is unique. Anybody can pick up a board and hit the asphalt. No skater looks alike, everyone of them is an individual. With so many brands it easy to buy one as a beginner quickly(Thesportbro list) and try to become famous.

There is no uniform. There is no standard dress code. You do what you want to do. Some dress in baggy jeans and T-shirts and a pair of Nikes, others prefer skin-tight pants, a battered pair of Vans and some safety equipment. It’s all up to the individual on top of the board.

The basic thing to remember when it comes to helmets is that even a small concussion to head can be deadly in the future which is why when skateboarding we recommend that you get the best skateboard helmet for you.

We have no mottoes. We have no creed. We have our skateboards underneath our feet. The rush of air flowing through our hair as we descend down a steep hill.

It’s all up to the skater. We’re all good in our way. Even the little twelve year old overweight kid that got one for Christmas. Even he’s good. Everyone is good. Everybody has their own unique.

As long as you’re having fun doing it, and you’re not doing it for the chicks, you are a real skater. In my opinion, kids that can kickflip down gnarly twelve stairs are good, but if they’re doing it to impress, to me, they aren’t a skater.

To me, a skater is the overweight twelve year old I mentioned, that can’t even ride down the sidewalk. He has fun on the skateboard, the kid that kickflips down twelve stairs isn’t. One is doing it for fun, the other does it for fame.

The one that does it for fame is not a skater. The one that does it for fun, IS a skater.

Skaters eat, breathe, and dream about skateboarding. During the last period of school, I remember anxiously waiting, almost pissing myself, waiting for the last three seconds of class. I knew in three seconds, I’d be out with my friends, enjoying what we do, tearing up the streets on a piece of wood with four wheels. It’s simple, but it was always fun to us.

It was on my mind, non-stop. Even after coming home after a long twelve hour skate session, I wanted to go back out for just fifteen more minutes to tear it up some more. My friends had the same mindset. Most skaters I’ve met have the same mindset. It’s an addiction.

We’re like heroin addicts itching for our next fix. They nervously pick up the spoon, and pull the plunger of the needle up, their hands shaking in anticipation.

That’s how we are. When we get home from school, we anxiously run to our rooms to grab our pieces of wood with four wheels, our hands shaking. As soon as our wheels hit the concrete, a rush of euphoria rushes through our bodies. Orgasmic. It’s amazing.

So is skateboarding a drug? A drug is something that alters your mind, your perspective.

When I pick up my skateboard, my mind goes blank, and all I can think about is hitting that six stair down the street from my house. It may not be a drug, but it is definitely an addiction.

If you are just getting into skateboarding it can be tough to learn everything about it and what purpose it serves but more so if you have been skateboarding for a while and now want to move up.

Let me ask you?

Do you want to start buidling your own skateboard but don’t know which wheels to get or skateboard decks to get? It can be daunting and confusing which is why our guide will show you everything you need to know different parts that go in a skateboard.

At the end of each part resource we have also linked some great sites that you can check out if you want to learn more.

Most of the beginners do not think of the parts of a Skating board while buying a new one. Usually they just buy a Skating board based on the sales executive’s explanation at a shop or a description written below the skating board on an e-commerce website.

But it is important to know about the parts of the skating board and most of the experienced skateboarders know it all. Usually when you want a custom Skateboard it is necessary to know about the parts of skating board.

So this article explains you about the parts of a most common Skateboard. Normally Skateboards contain the below parts

Different Skateboard Parts

1. Deck – The Deck also known as board will have truck under its bottom and grip tape in the top. The truck will have a nose and tail. Nose is the front part of the Deck which is usually broader than the tail. Tail is the back end of the Deck which is less broader than the Nose. Base material of the Deck would be made of 7 to 8 layers of plies (Wood) or fibre.

Decks are the biggest part of a skateboard, they are what you stand on and ride your skateboard. Traditionally there was only one deck design which was a straight curved shaped piece of wood.

Nowadays there are lot more options available such as conclave, penny and cruiser decks etc.

2. Mounting holes- There will be eight mounting holes on a skateboard which are available to fix the trucks at the bottom. Four holes will be there near the nose and the other four are drilled near the tail.

3. Grip Tape – Grip tape is usually made of aluminium oxide or silicon carbide. Grip tape will have sandpaper like surface which is self adhesive. Decks are very slippery which is why they are covered with grip tape which provides friction between you and the board. This friction enables you to stick with the board when you are going at high speeds or are jumping up in air.

4. Truck – Truck is designed to hold the load which is attached to the wheels and consists of various other parts.

5. Axle – Axle is a metal rod which runs through the truck hanger and will be connected to the wheels on either side of it.

6. Axle Nut – Axle nuts are threaded into a Axle to hold wheels in right place.

7. Hanger – Hanger is a part of truck which holds axle and wheels. It rotates in the pivot cup allowing the board to make turns.

8. Base plate – A base plate is usually attached to the deck of the skating board which hosts the pivot cup

9. Bushings – Bushings are either rubber material or metallic ones which fits around the King Pins of the Skate board. Bushings can be adjusted enough to be tight or loose around a kingpin in order to control the wheelbase during the turnings.

10. Pivot Cup – Pivot cup rest inside the base plate and helps the board to turn left and right easily.

11. King Pin – King pin supports bushings and Hanger. It is an threaded extension coming out from base plate.

12. Wheels – Four wheels are present in a regular skate board and it contains many other parts along with it. Core part of the wheel hosts the bearings. There will be a bearing seat to hold the core.

13. Bearings – Bearings are enclosed in a disc and bearings help in motion of the wheels. Derlin crown, bearing shields, and C clip are all the part of bearing unit.

14. Bolts and Nuts – There will be 8 nuts and 8 bolts required to mount the board with the wheels. After knowing all this one must also know how to select a quality Skateboard. After knowing about all the parts of the Skateboard one can buy the parts of it and get the custom Skateboard ready for themselves. It saves money as well as you will end up having the Skateboard of your choice. The other option is you can buy a ready made Skateboards available in the market.

There are long boards and classic Skateboards available. Long boards are usually costlier and you should decide based on your necessity. Some of the most important things to consider while choosing a Skateboard are width, length and wheelbase. Generally width comes in sizes between 7″ to 9 “. Broader Skateboards are good for one who go on off roads. people with broad feet must go for wider Skateboards. Normally length of the Skateboards lie between 28″ to 32″. Shorter boards are better for street tricks and longer boards are good for vert riders. One should consider long and wide boards for more stability and balance.

Wheel base is another factor to be considered while buying a quality Skateboard. Wheel base is the distance between drilling holes on the either end of the board. Normally it lies between 12″ to 15″. It depends on the height of the individual and taller people should prefer wider wheelbase to ensure better skating.

The other important thing to consider while buying the Skateboard is the physical material used in designing the Skateboard. Deck should be made up of good quality wood or fibre. The trucks should be light weight and should be no more than 10”. It is always good to buy a good company Skateboards to make sure skating will be a good experience.

Knowing how to remove your wheels to either clean or replace your bearings is essential when it comes to maintaining your skateboard.

Dirt and grime will build up in your bearings and inevitably slow down your skateboard if you don’t regularly clean your bearings.

There are a couple of things you need before you can go ahead and change your bearings. First, you will need a one-half inch (1/2”) socket wrench to unscrew the bolts holding your wheels onto your skateboard.

If you don’t have a one-half inch socket wrench, my recommendation would be to go to your local skate shop and purchase an ‘all-in-one’ skate tool (sometimes called a ‘t-tool’), which comes with three essential size socket wrenches (and other tools) you need to completely disassemble your skateboard.

If you do not have a local skate shop, you can easily head over to the local hardware store and buy the socket wrench you need as they are very cheap.

Next, you’ll need some bearings. The type of bearings you buy is based on preference, so it is completely up to you when it comes down to purchasing bearings.

Bones and Lucky have always been great bearings for me, though.

Removing your old bearings

Unscrew the bolts that are holding your wheels on and be sure to place the bolts and spacers and washers next to you so you don’t lose them.

This next part is a bit tricky – after you slide your wheels off, you will see your bearings inside of the wheel. So how do you get the bearings out?

Well, luckily the axle that you have just slid your wheels off of is the perfect tool for popping the bearings out of the wheel, so we can use that.

Apart from just changing bearings it is also a good idea to lube out your bearings for longer and smoother rides. You can check out this article on best lubricant for skate bearings.

If you are replacing your bearings and plan to throw out your old ones, you don’t have to worry about how gently you proceed with the next step – otherwise, be warned, using too much pressure will most likely damage your bearings.

We will use the axle to pop out each of the eight bearings one by one. Place your skateboard on its side, and use the top axles as your tool. Slide your wheel onto the axle so that the edge of the axle is in the middle of the bearing you are trying to pop out. It is important not to have the axel too far into the wheel or it will be impossible to pop the bearing out.

Once you are in position to pop the bearing out, simply grasp the wheel firmly and tilt your hand in whichever direction you prefer in order to force the bearing out. You will need to use a little bit of force to pop the bearing out. It is always best to do it in one motion to avoid damaging small parts of the bearing.

Repeat this step for the seven remaining bearings. You can now clean and grease your bearings, or begin to insert new bearings into your wheels.

Inserting new bearings

To insert your new bearings, simply place your wheel flat on the ground, and set the bearing flat on the hole of the wheel.

Next, simply press the bearing down into the wheel, but be sure not to push on the colored part because this could certainly damage the bearing and cause unnecessary friction. Make sure the bearings are in far enough – usually, check to see that the bearing is even with the edge of the wheel and that is fine.

Do this for all eight bearings, and then place your four wheels on to the skateboard. If you use washers, you will want to place them on both before, and after you put your wheel on the board.

Washers lessen the friction between the wheel and the axle, and the wheel and the bolt.

Finally, screw the bolt on with your half-inch socket wrench. Make sure you don’t tighten the bolts too much or your wheels won’t spin correctly. To check, spin the wheels on your board.

If everything is on correctly and you have a nice set of bearings, your wheels will spin anywhere from thirty seconds to more than a minute.

Hopefully you have now replaced your skateboard bearings and you no longer have to exert as much effort to go places. Be sure to clean your bearings every so often, depending on how much you skateboard.

How To Do 360 Flip!

The 360 flip, tre flip, or 360 kickflip are all common names for one of the more advanced tricks in skateboarding. From here on out I’ll be referring to the trick as a 360 flip.

Like I said, this trick is a little more advanced but it has becoming more and more of a standard street trick, and is totally worth learning if not just for how cool it looks when done correctly.

Just try to follow these tips the best you can while incorporating your own skateboarding knowledge and you should be able to learn the trick with minimal problems and frustration.

Foot Positioning

The positioning of your feet is essential to be able to perform this trick correctly. Start by placing your front foot like you would if you were doing a kickflip, but angle it a little forward. Put your back foot over the tail of the board, but hang your toes off a little bit. The ball of your foot should be on the corner of your board.

You will be using the back foot to scoop and rotate the board, which I will explain in a bit.

Understanding and performing a 360 flip

To do this trick, you will need to understand how it works. A 360 flip is essentially a 360 shove it combined with a kickflip – this should be pretty easy to imagine. The pop and rotation is all in your back foot, and the flip is all in your front foot. You will be

When you ollie, kick your front foot forward to start the kickflip motion, and push your back foot out to start the spin. Keep your upper body postured up right, and always looks at the board so you can catch the grip tape at the right time.

The trick is mostly in the back foot – scoop the board enough so you can get a solid rotation going. The kickflip portion of this trick is not relied on so heavily, as you can do a light minimal kickflip and still be able to land smoothly.

An important factor involved with performing this trick, and most tricks, correctly is timing. With practice you will find this trick is not as hard as it looks.

Hopefully you will be adding this trick to your arsenal in a couple of days. Good luck, skate on.

Learning to do a Hardflip on a skateboard!

A hardflip is definitely a hard trick to learn, as the name implies, but learning the trick can only expand your arsenal of tricks and make you a better skateboarder overall.

A hardflip is basically a front side shove it combined with a flip, so you can think of it as kind of a front side varial kickflip.

Foot positioning

To be able to consistently land this trick, you need to make sure your feet are positioned correctly each time. You may, however, develop your own style and variation of this trick as time goes on.

Set up your front foot exactly how you would for a kickflip. You also want to set up your back foot sort of like a kickflip, but hang your heel a little more off the board.

Understanding the hardflip

Start to ollie and get the board rotating in a front side pop shove it motion with your back foot. At the same time you are putting spin on the board, start the kickflip with your front foot.

You want to then get your feet out of the way quickly so you can let the board carry out the trick.

For this trick, you really need to either jump really high, or keep your legs bent more than you normally would. I prefer the latter because I personally can’t jump very high.

Ideally, you want your legs to be higher in the air than your board standing up on its tail. When the board has finished its flip, you should be on your way down and able to catch the board, and ride away smoothly.

There are many common mistakes that people face when they first try to learn this trick.

First of all, make sure your bend your legs and jump high as I emphasized earlier – if you don’t balance out the spin and the flip in this trick, the nose of the board is going to end up in your crotch, which is not a good time.

Also, make sure you let the trick flow. Don’t perform each step like a robot and get frustrated because it’s not working out for you. If you study how people do this trick, you can understand what I mean.

Just look up a few videos of someone doing a hardflip and this guide will help you understand even more, giving you a good shot at mastering the hardflip.